I received my A&K KANN ALPHA yesterday (ordered from HeadAmp and got free overnight shipping). Because it's newer technology, I was hoping it would sound better than my Sony NW-WM1A Walkman. I've never had an A&K player before, but decided to buy it due to the inclusion of a 4.4mm balanced output.
I've now used it with these 'phones: Meze Empyrean, Dan Clark Ether 2, Focal Stellia, Shure SE846, Massdrop x Noble Kaiser 10, and a Drop + THX Panda wireless headphone. Only the Stellia didn't seem to be a good match with the KANN ALPHA. All of the others are sounding really good with the ALPHA; possibly the Ether 2 is the very best and most neutral with this player. This new A&K is certainly a sonic upgrade compared to my Sony Walkman, and the A&K is less expensive. The A&K is more refined and also more detailed and transparent. Some users might want a more aggressive high end if they are into electronic music or rock. I mainly listen to classical, jazz & folk, and this player is just fine for my taste in music.
Only a few complaints: The internal memory is only 64GB. My Sony Walkman has 128GB. You can add a microSD up to 1TB for the KANN ALPHA. I went to my local Micro Center store and bought their 512GB microSD for $60. It's working fine so far.
The A&K is a bit bulkier and heavier than my Walkman, but I can carry it comfortably in a shirt pocket. I would prefer more rounded edges, but that's not a deal breaker. It also gets surprisingly warm in use, unlike my Walkman.
If you buy one, look for the user manual in a directory of the internal memory. I didn't find the manual on the A&K website. A printed Quick Start Guide is included in the package.